Final: Photo Essay

For my final project, I wanted to focus on one of my friends. I followed him around for the day and took various photos of him. The day started at Union Market, where we walked around and got drinks. We then took pictures near a wall at the market. We then went to the National Cathedral and walked around the area. Following that, we hung out and then went to a nearby bar with some friends. Most of the shots are from an eye-level perspective. I wanted the photos to be in the moment and see him from my perspective. I played around with some of the colors, like making some photos black and white. However, I really tried to use the lighting around me to create the image. The bar we were in had a red-tinted light and that really made for some interesting shots. I originally had shots with him and other people, however, I ultimately decided I wanted to stick with just him as my only subject.

I also took photos of him one other day when we were together, that I really wanted to include in my essay. Because of this, I decided to arrange my photos based on color. The first two photos are very bright and colorful (both are taken at Union Market). The next four are grey and black and white (these were taken at the Cathedral and on campus). The next two are from his apartment and are bluer. Finally, the last four have a red tint because of the lighting at the bar we were in.

At Union Market – Wide shot

Candid photo on campus. Medium shot.

Another close-up shot in black and white.

I wanted to use the rule of thirds here and have the subject be on the far right of the image. Also a wide shot image.

1950s vibes with this close up in black and white

 

Candid medium shot.

 

I loved the lighting at the bar. I really thought it created a cool mood. Medium shot and rule of thirds.

Extreme close up with a shallow depth of field.

Medium shot with a shallow depth of field.

Another phone distraction. Slight high angle shot.

Visual Review – Portrait Gallery

For my final visual review, I decided to look at “Skating in Central Park” by Agnes Tait. This was painted in 1934 as part of the Public Works of Art Project in New York. I love how realistic the painting is and how it shows this happy image of all these people skating and hanging out together, even though it is the Great Depression. This was obviously a very challenging time in American history, as many people lost their jobs and homes, but this image shows a different version of this era.

If one were to view this image as if it was a photograph, it would be considered a wide shot at a slightly high angle. Clearly, the painter was standing on a hill and painted as if she was looking straight forward, with a slight downward angle. There is a low depth of focus in the background since the buildings are blurred together and are not very defined. In general, most of these people are not very defined in the painting either. Even the plants and bare trees are not sharply defined. It makes all the pieces of the image blur together to guide the viewer through the picture, instead of just stopping to look at one part of it.

The flow of the image allows the viewer’s eye to start on the left side of the painting at the tall tree in the foreground. The eyes travel with the snow bank to the bottom of the image – since it gives the perception that this is the closest part of the image to us. The eye follows the snow bank to the right side of the image and across the bridge. The bridge creates a line back towards the middle of the picture that guides the eyes in that direction. Once the bridge ends, the eye travels with the group of skaters in their colorful coats. This, along with the rocks lining the frozen lake, continues to draw the eye back to the left side of the image. The eye then moves upward with the people who are walking up the hill. It continues to follow the dark trees in the background of the picture until we hit the right edge. Finally, the eye moves up and across the back of the image, following the line of the skyscrapers and sky in the background.

The red colors on some of the coats help stand against the white and blue background. This is really the only color that stands out in the painting. Most of the other coats are blue, green or brown and blend in with the cooler tones of the painting. The sky also has cooler tones that hint that it may be late afternoon and the sun is about to begin to set.

While the image still has a shallow field of depth, the viewer can see people in the far background. Some are sledding down a hill on the right side of the image. Others, on the other hand, are talking to one another and walking around.

Pulp Fiction – Movie Poster

The 1994 movie, Pulp Fiction directed by Quentin Tarantino, is a thriller that follows multiple different storylines that end up crossing paths. The story is focused around violence and drugs. It stars many famous actors and actresses, including John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, and Uma Thurman.

The movie poster for Pulp Fiction is one of the most iconic posters of all time. This poster was designed to reflect the title of the movie – as it was made to look like a piece of pulp fiction. Pulp fiction was a term coined in the early 1900s to reflect fiction books that were produced in mass quantities at low prices, since they were printed on cheap paper. These books were usually only 10 cents. These books were often creative short stories that could cater to the lower classes, since they were so cheap.

The movie poster shows this by having creased edges, folded corners, and even havingthe price marked at ten cents. The poster looks like it is the cover of a cheap book. It looks as if it has been read and worn down.

The top of the poster is bright red, which draws the eyes towards the title. The title is in bright yellow, which is contrasted against the red. The rest of the poster has a darker tone. Uma Thurman, who is one of the main cast members, is the only person on the poster. She is seen laying on a bed, smoking a cigarette, and has a gun in front of her. Her eyes are staring straight at the viewer, drawing them in with her gaze. Her lips also stand out since she is wearing red lipstick, which contrasts her black hair and all black clothes.

The cast has their names listed in yellow on the left side of the poster. The bright yellow helps to draw attention to them and the color and font matches the title, helping it be consistent.

The dark tones of the poster and the darker items on the bed, like the gun and cigarettes, help to set the tone of the movie. The movie is very dark and violent, and this helps to give it that appeal. Even the closed blinds in the back and the tilted lampshade in the back left corner helps to create the darker tone of the movie.

Overall, the poster does a great job reflecting what the movie is about. It uses dark tones and items associated with violence and darker images to establish the setting of the movie. Thurman’s gaze also helps to bring the viewer in and have them really look at the poster. The consistent font and coloring also help make the title and cast stand out. The cast list also frames Thurman, which helps bring attention to her as well. Finally, using the visual metaphor of a pulp fiction book to illustrate the poster of the movie ties in with the name of the movie. The illusion of a worn book cover helps to bring everything together.

The Godfather Visual Review

The Godfather is arguably one of the greatest films of all time. It was released in 1972 and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The movie follows an Italian-American Crime family, and the cycle of betrayal and violence in the mafia. The film has many big actors including Marlon Brando, Al Pacino and Diane Keaton.

The film opens with a man asking for the help of Don Vito Corleone, the head of the family. With an over the shoulder shot, and Corleone cast behind a shadow, it draws and eerie, but powerful image of the man – even without being able to see his face.

We later find out that his daughter’s wedding is happening as they are having the discussion. At the wedding we see many wide shots at eye level, creating the idea that we are with the large Corleone family and are apart of the wedding.

Just outside of the wedding we see the police writing down the license plate numbers of all of the attendees.

A common theme throughout the movie is showing the back of Don Corleone’s head while he is in his office, speaking with other guests. This consistency continues to show that Corleone is a powerful man and not to be messed with.

The movie moves to Los Angeles, where they are trying to make Johnny get a part in the movie. Throughout these scenes, the camera does not move. Rather, it is stationary and is just at various different angles. It does not travel with the characters.

After the studio head refuses to cast Johnny, the camera travels with the mafia member as he stands up and says his farewells. The scene cuts to someone asleep in their bed and the camera dollys in towards the bed. From a high angle and a close up shot, the camera pans left down the bed after the studio head wakes up covered in blood. He lifts up the covers to find the head of his beloved horse.

After meeting with the drug dealer, the family sends out Luca to spy on the other families. The camera follows Luca in a close up at eye level in to a bar. In an extremely close up shot, Luca’s cigarette is lit, but he is then stabbed with the knife and chocked. Following his death, there is another close up shot of the knife in his hand.

In the following scene, there is a wide shot from a high angle of Vito buying fruit from a stand while his son Fredo waits in the car. There is a close up shot of two men pulling out their guns and then a high angle shot of their feet while they are running. In another high angle shot of the street, the men shoot down Vito and he collapses to the ground – presumably dead.

Michael is scene walking out of the theater in a medium shot at eye level with his girlfriend Kay. They are walking down the street when she sees a newspaper that publishes the possible murder of his father.

In a close up shot, Sollozzo has Hagen kidnapped and is seen talking to him. At a low angle, the camera shows Hagen sitting and looking up at his kidnapper, and hears about the assassination of his boss.

Michael is later seen in a medium eye level shot sitting on a bench. The rule of threes is applied here as his eyes hit the upper part of the lines and the bench is at the lower line. He then moves inside after receiving a phone call. Someone is cooking and the camera pans left and right to capture the scene. The camera is still at eye level to get the affect that the viewer is inside the kitchen with the Corleone family.

Following the incident at the hospital, the scene changes to the Corleone family house and from a high angle we see the gate being guarded and cars coming in and out. With Sonny in charge, he sends out men to kill those who have been threatening his family. The camera pans left as follows him as he shows his excitement. The camera continues to pan right as it follows him and Hagen arguing about what to do. Michael realizes that he must kill the Sollozzo and his bodyguard. The camera dollys in toward Michael and he comes up with a plan on how to kill them both. He decides that the best way to do it is in a public space with a handgun planted somewhere he can easily access it without it being on him in case he gets searched. This dolly in is a key turning point as Michael is now okay with becoming one of the members of the family who actually kills someone.

Further along in the movie, Sonny is driving and stops at a tollbooth. In a wide shot, the camera pans along to show the car pulling up to the booth. The camera stops panning at the car approaches the stop. The camera does a close up shot of Sonny as he pays for the toll and in the background you see the man working conveniently drop his change and shut the window. The camera turns to see men with machine guns ready to gun down Sonny. He is shot multiple times and the camera does a wide angle to see the damage of the car. The camera does a high angle of a Sonny on the ground, shot to death.

At the baby’s christening, the camera switches between different scenes. At first, there is a wide shot of the chapel, and then the camera switches to a high angle and showing the baby being baptized. It then goes between different men as they are doing every day activities. One is a medium shot of someone packing a suitcase, another is a high angle close up of a man at the barber. The scene then shows other men grabbing guns getting ready to gun down people. Throughout the christening, Corleone’s men are killing those who betrayed the family.

 

Opening Sequence – The Simpsons

 

The opening sequence of the Simpsons is almost as popular as the TV show itself. The opener carries a familiar tune to all and leaves people humming along. Even after being on air for over 27 years, the opening sequence has been pretty consistent, aside from a few basic updates. In some episodes, however, the sequence does change to give the audience a little change and something to look forward to.

Since the Simpsons is an animated show, the entire sequence is animated. The opener starts off with a dolly into the header of the show and then pans over the entire town of Springfield, where the family lives.

The camera then pans right and dollys forward to show the oldest child, Bart, writing on the chalkboard for punishment. The writing says, “I will not skateboard in the hallway” and this creates a line that points to Bart, the main subject of the screen. He is also the brightest color in the room, making him stick out the most.

The camera dollys out and pans right to go towards the front of the school and then travels with Bart as he skateboards down the ramp and staircase.

After Bart, the camera goes to Homer’s work, the nuclear power plant, where he is seen with a bright green rod. He drops the object and it flies into the back of his shirt, which draws the viewer’s eyes towards Homer.

At the supermarket, Marge is looking at a magazine, while baby is on the conveyer belt at the check out stand. The camera tracks right to follow her down the belt and she ends up being placed in one of the grocery bags. From a low angle, you can see Marge feeling relieved once she realizes that Maggie is okay.

The scene then changes to Lisa who is in music class, the camera pans left to show Lisa playing the saxophone and then travels forward to follow Lisa out the door.

The green nuclear bar is seen bouncing across the screen helping to guide the viewers’ eye to the right, which brings Bart skateboarding past the screen. At this point, the camera treks right to see a group of people waiting at the bus stop. The bus passes them on the right, which leads them to run after it. This takes the viewer to the street where

At this point, the camera treks right to see a group of people waiting at the bus stop. The bus passes them on the right, which leads them to run after it.

This takes the viewer to the street where the Marge’s car is driving by. The camera is focused on Maggie, and it looks like she is driving. However, the camera dollys out to reveal a wide shot of Marge actually driving the car.

There is a low angle shot of Lisa riding her bike home from school. Then the camera pans left to show another wide angle, this time of the Simpson’s house. The camera zooms in onto Homer’s car.

The camera changes to Marge’s point of view of her in the car. She almost runs into Homer, who runs inside, and leads the camera into their living room.

The sequence ends with a wide shot of the whole family sitting on the couch to watch TV.

Visual Review – Rear Window

Rear window begins with the credits playing in front of a window.Following the credits, the camera dollys in towards the window.In the following scene, the camera tilts down and pans right to travel with a cat moving up the stairs. The camera is at a high angle. The camera then tilts up and pans left to show an apartment complex. The camera continues to pan around showing people in their apartments or on their balconies.

The protagonist of the movie, Jeffery, is seen in a medium shot on the phone in a cast. The camera occasionally switches to his point of view to show what he sees when he looks outside. One time shows a low angle shot of a helicopter, there is another low angle shot that shows two girls swimming. In a wide shot, Jeffery watches dancer in her kitchen practicing.

While looking out the window, the camera pans right to follow Jeffery’s neighbors and then moves left to follow the man once he walks into the apartment.

After Jeffery’s nurses comes to help him, Jeffery falls asleep and wakes to find his girlfriend in his apartment. When she walks in, the camera does a close up on her face. It then moves to an extreme close up of both her and Jeffery kissing. The close-up shot continues while they talk.

After a while, the two of them begin to drink wine in a medium shot. The background is out of focus, but you can still see two figures in the window across the courtyard. It looks like they are dancing, and then the man leaves.

The scene moves on to show Jeffery looking out the window at his neighbors. The wife is seen setting up a nice dinner with wine and candles for herself. It is then shown that she is eating alone and pretending to have dinner with her husband. The camera continues to pan and travels back and forth on her.

In another apartment, a man is shown bringing dinner into his wife, she dismisses the flower he gave her and the camera pans left to show her husband on the phone.

Next, Jeffery and Lisa are debating about fitting into different classes and whether she should stay with him. During this scene, the camera does over the shoulder shots to show the conversation between the two of them. Towards the end of their argument, the camera focus on just one of them, and does a close up of her as she is standing up. With Jeffery, the camera is at a medium shot to show the top of his wheelchair. After Lisa angrily leaves, Jeffery goes back to look out the window. He suddenly hears a scream and glass break, but does not know where it came from.

He sees the man who made his wife dinner leave very late with a suitcase and then return later in the morning. The man then leaves again with the same outfit and suitcase – all of the blinds in his apartment are closed. The camera pans right to show the man returning once more and then leaving again.

The next morning the complex is lively with people and activities. The camera tilts up and right to show everyone in the area and then tilts down to show the bottom of the courtyard.

Jeffery finds the salesman suspicious, so he uses his binoculars to get a closer view. Instead of a wide shot on the suspicious neighbor, the camera now has a medium shot on him. However, this was not close enough for Jeffery, who decides to use his camera lens to get an even closer look. He finds the man wrapping up two long knives.

The next day, Jeffery begins to question and obsess over the man. There is a brief close up shot of Lisa and Jeffery talking and kissing. He continues to talk about the potential murder and with a wide shot and pan right, the camera goes over to the neighbor’s apartment and follows the man walking throughout his apartment. Jeffery is convinced the man murdered his wife, while Lisa tries to convince him otherwise. However, Lisa looks through the window at the right time, to see the neighbor wrapping up a suitcase. The camera zooms in on Lisa’s face and is finally convinced that Jeffery may be onto something.

After speaking with the police, Jeffery is determined to continue watching the man and solve the mystery. Through his camera lens, Jeffery sees an up-close shot of the neighbor. He is going through jewelry and rings and calls someone on the phone about them. In a medium shot, you can see Lisa walking in the door and talking to Jeffery about the possible reasons the man had all of the wife’s jewelry.

Later on, Jeffery and Lisa are able to convince the nurse about the possible murder. In a bird eyeshot, the three of them write a letter to the neighbor. The camera zooms in on the letter, which reads, “What have you done with her?” and Lisa delivers it. In a wide shot, there is a suspenseful scene where the neighbor tries to chase her and find her after she drops off the letter.

While looking in the binoculars, the camera goes to the neighbor who is seen in medium shot packing a suitcase. The camera goes back to the three of them in a medium shot looking through the window trying to figure out where he is going.

The nurse and Lisa go to dig up the flowers where the man may have planted something. In a high angle, wide shot, you can see the two of them going through and trying to find the evidence.

When Jeffery calls his friend to discuss the evidence, a close-up shot shows him on the phone trying to explain everything, what he does not realize is that the neighbor left while he was trying to call. Towards the end, the neighbor comes to confront Jeffery, and in a mixture of low angles and medium shots, a fight scene occurs that leaves to him trying to throw Jeffery out the window. The movie ends with the camera panning again through the apartments showing the neighbors.

 

Music Video Review

Sorry – Beyonce

For the first ten seconds of Beyonce’s “Sorry” music video off of her latest album Lemonade, the camera is in a fixed frame and just shows lights and then switches scenes to show people moving their feet on what seems to be a bus.

The camera continues to be in a fixed frame but jumps between the various people sitting on the bus. It also primarily uses a low angle perspective at this point.

When Beyonce finally appears on the screen, the camera angle is still frozen with the camera being at eye level.

Then, it jumps to a high angle with the frame still fixed. The camera begins to pan right, around the 48-second mark where it pans across willow trees.

For the next scene, the camera dollies in towards an old looking home.

In the following scene, it continues to dolly in, this time very low to the ground on the porch of the home with a slight pedestal upwards.

Once inside the home, the camera moves to a Dutch angle and pans left across a wall and past a doorway where you can see two women sitting on chairs inside the room.

The camera continues to pan left in the following scene and then dollies in with a low angle, to show someone walking down the stairwell.

Next, the camera travels and follows the main subject down a hallway by using a dolly.

From this point on, the camera continues to dolly in on through the hallway and onto Beyonce, who is sitting on a chair at the end of the room. It also pans right and dollies out to capture another subject dancing next to her.

When the video goes back to the girls on the bus, the camera is continuously moving by either panning left and right or dollying in or out. In every scene on the bus, the camera slightly moves up and down to imitate that the bus is moving.

The camera is also at eye level to help give the idea that the viewer is part of the video and is one of the members in the scene. This is further emphasized by Beyonce looking directly into the camera as if she was referencing the viewer throughout the song and singing directly to them.

The camera also periodically uses Dutch angle while panning to emphasize the girls’ dancing.

When Beyonce is sitting posed on the ground, the camera dollys in and out to highlight her dancing and focus on her movements. Since these shots are also at eye level, it allows for Beyonce to once again look directly into the camera and have her sing straight to the viewer.

Overall, this music video is mostly at eye level and therefore there was really no craning involved. The video also lacked zooming in or out. For the most part, the camera either dollied in or out or panned left or right. These angles and movements, along with the Dutch angles make up the majority of this music video and helped create the impression that the viewer was apart of the video.

Visual Review: Commerical

 

This commercial aired in 2010 and featured Beyoncé, Britney Spears, and Pink as gladiators in a Roman Coliseum. Enrique Iglesias also stars as the antagonist forcing the three ladies to fight. While the girls are waiting to go into the ring, they begin to start the beat to “We Will Rock You” by Queen. As they walk out, the crowd begins to chant and they throw down their weapons and start to sing. While they are singing, cans of Pepsi begin to fall from the stadium. The commercial ends with Enrique falling into the stadium and most likely meeting his doom by being eaten by a lion.

The commercial begins with a shot of the stadium. This aerial shot at the beginning helps to set the stage of the commercial by showing the stadium and where the scene is taking place.

For the most part, the camera changes between panning and tilting. The panning helps show the different key players in the commercial and help the viewer get a sense of what is going on. For example, the panning helps show that the three women are in the stadium and the camera pans to show each one of them. The tilting of the camera helps show the size of everything. In the beginning of the commercial, the camera tilts to show the size of the stadium and statue to show how large they are. The camera also will tilt up to show Enrique looking down and them, giving him a sense of power.

The camera angle’ also help give the women a sense of power as well by doing low angle shots. These shots help make the girls seem as if they are looking down at the viewers and gives them a confident, empowering feeling.

The camera also uses an arc shot when the subjects are circled while they are singing in the middle of the stadium. This, similar to the low angle shots, helps create the illusion of the girls getting empowered by one another’s singing and the cheers from the crowd.

The camera is often at eye level as well to help give the impression that the viewer is either with the girls in the Coliseum, in the stands with the spectators, or even with the emperor. These make the viewers feel as if they are part of the video and not just watching it as an outsider.

The camera also uses close up shots when it zooms into the main subjects faces. Since this video features such big artists, it was important to show their faces and make sure all of the viewers know who is in the commercial and to keep the audience engaged.

The camera also uses bird’s eye view angle to show the size of the stadium once more. By looking over the stadium, the viewer seems to be in a more powerful position and is able to show the action that is going on throughout the whole stadium, not just one small part.

 

 

 

Kent State

The Pulitzer Prize Photo I chose was titled Kent State and shot by John Filo on May 4^th, 1970. Filo won the prize for his image in 1971. This picture was seen throughout the country as it encapsulated the anger and fear regarding the Vietnam War and the disconnect between the government and the youths in the late 1960s to early 70s.

John Filo was a student at Kent State at the time of the shooting. He was “just a student who wanted to be a photographer” when he captured the image that would mark the tension built during the Vietnam War. In 1970, students at Kent State University in Ohio were protesting the war. The National Guards were called to put a stop to the protests and eventually, the guards fired onto the student protesters killing four and injuring nine others. The photograph Filo shot was of a fatally wounded Jeffery Miller who was twenty at the time. Fourteen-year-old runaway Mary Ann Vecchio is seen kneeling over his lifeless body screaming. Interestingly, in many magazines, the original image was edited to get rid of a fence post that was behind Vecchio’s head because it was too distracting.

Filo used a Nikkormat with Tri X film and was exposing at 1/500s at f5.6/f8 to get this shot. He says that he knew it was important for him to be taking pictures of this event because no one would have believed that it happened if someone did not capture it- even though many students at the time thought he was being insensitive. He almost stopped shooting when he realized the bullets the guards were firing were real and not blank, but realized he was there to make sure what was going on was known.

The image has a wide depth of field, with most of the people in the photo being in focus. However, what draws the viewer to the main subject, Vecchio, is the reaction on her face. You can almost hear her cry simply by looking at her face. Especially since she was so young, she embodied the idea of this generation losing their innocence because of the Vietnam War.

The long shot of this image helps show what is happening in the background. People are walking around without much emotion on their faces, which is a big contrast compared to the emotion shown on Vecchio’s face.

This photo was also taken at eye level. This helps give the viewer the perspective that they are in the scene with the photographer. It gives a more personal approach to the image as well. It also helps create more emotion in the image. Since it feels as if you were with the students on the day of the shooting, it makes you have more sympathy for them and really evokes a reaction out of the viewer. You feel the pain and fear that is seen on Mary Ann’s face and it makes you think about Jeffery Miller’s family and the other family’s that were affected by the shooting. It really helps you understand the turmoil that was going on in America at the time.

Murad Osmann

Murad Osmann is a Russian photographer based in Moscow. He recently became popular from posting his series “Follow Me” on the social media site, Instagram. This series features photos that he took of his wife while they were traveling together. Each photo follows the same theme: he is reaching out holding his wife’s hand while her back is to him and there is detailed scenery in the background.

Each background highlights where they have traveled to and is edited to create an almost fantasy-like image. This series quickly got picked up by Buzzfeed, CNN, and other news sites. People were captivated with the detailed images and the sincerity of it, since each image featured his wife.

He currently has over four million followers on Instagram. He has also been covered in many other news sites, especially after photos of his marriage were released. His wedding photos used the same theme as his “Follow Me” series.

This series began on a vacation in Barcelona in 2011. His wife (at the time girlfriend) claims she would become annoyed with him stopping to take pictures every second and she would pull him away.

He continued to take photos of her leading him around the city and thus the series began.

Osmann originally worked with an iPhone and photo editing tools, but has since started using a DSLR explaining that it was better for wide shots. Wide shots are used throughout his series. While the main subject of the photo is his wife, the background of each photo is just as important. The wide shot allows for him to show the viewer where the couple is and where his wife is leading him.

Everything in the photo is in focus, which is rare to see in most photos. His use of photo-editing devices help him highlight where he is, and thus helps make the location extremely important. He makes every piece of the background stand out.

Every building, face, and color becomes important aspects of the image. While looking at the photo, it is hard for the eye to stay looking at one piece because there is so much going on. However, there’s not so much that you cannot focus on the image as a whole.

Each photo is shot from his perspective, thus most angles are shot at eye level. This allows the viewer of the photo to stand in the position of the photographer and see through his eyes. This was the main theme of his series.

He said that he wanted to capture what other people may have missed. This angle, plus the focus that is placed on the photos, help illustrate every detail and piece of beauty he sees in his travels. This once again, connects back to his main theme of showing people something that they may be missing. It also creates and intimate moment for the viewer as it makes the viewer feel as if they are being pulled towards something beautiful.

 

References:

Street, Francesca (June 27, 2017). “World’s top 10 travel influencers, according to Forbes”. CNN.

http://www.businessinsider.com/murad-osmann-follow-me-to-wedding-2015-6